Travis Barker is getting called out online after supposedly “forcing” his wife to run a 5K at his pace!
So, on the latest episode of The Kardashians on Hulu out on Thursday, the Blink-182 drummer insisted on running a 5K with wife Kourtney Kardashian by his side the entire time. Kourt, mind you, just gave birth to their son Rocky Barker not so long ago and was still breastfeeding him at the time of filming. But baby breastfeeding be damned, because the 49-year-old rock star wanted to run HARD!
Related: Jennifer Lawrence HATES Kourtney Kardashian These Days!
As the scene kicked off in the ep, the Lemme founder tried to remind her husband that she had only been running in “one or two-minute intervals,” and wasn’t ready for the full 5K at the Run Travis Run event he was putting on last year. But Travis dragged her to the starting line, anyways! And once they took off at a steady pace, she began to protest:
“Babe, are you kidding? I’m not running crazy.”
But forget her pleas! Barker kept his grip on her hand and kept the pace rolling hard! In a confessional cutaway, Kourt said:
“Travis [took] my hand and will not let go… he just does not let go, so I have to keep up with his pace.”
Oof.
At multiple points, Rocky’s momma said she feels like she might “throw up” or “pass out.” But Travis still kept going! When they finally got to a water station, she told him:
“If you let me drink this, I’ll keep running with you.”
Jeez…
And yet after the race, she was seen thanking her hubby for motivating her. And she even gave him a kiss!
Still, the reality TV scene has sparked an intense debate over on TikTok. There, users slammed Travis for what they saw as less a form of loving encouragement and more a form of controlling behavior! Here are just a few of the thousands of responses to the scene as it played out:
“Forcing someone untrained to keep up with his pace (when he’s much taller) is actually so mean”
“Thirty minutes of running for a non-runner that just had a baby and also doesn’t want to is crazy”
“not sweet — this is him refusing to listen to her”
“He could have hurt her”
“I’m a runner and this really bothers me. She said she didn’t feel up to doing it. That should’ve been the end of the discussion.”
“He always came off as controlling”
Other users called the moment “crazy” and “possessive,” with some seeing it as a “red flag” and others citing Travis for being “a bully” and “possessive.” Sheesh!
And that’s not all! A relationship therapist named Sofie Roos spoke to DailyMail.com about the controversy and tried to put the whole thing into context. She explained:
“What stands out is the relationship between love intent in combination with lack of responsiveness, because you’re normally very responsive and listening to the one you love’s needs and boundaries. That Travis holds her hand through the whole run can be interpreted as an act of intimacy, but when the partner so clearly expresses discomfort, and he still keeps on, that can also be read as that he doesn’t respect her boundaries. Therefore, in situations like these, it’s about the balance between support and self-determination.”
When that outlet asked Sofie whether the run gesture was controlling or loving, she reasoned:
“It all depends on the intention. If he did it out of care, and that they both experienced it as something positive, which it seems like also Kourtney did in the end.”
Hmmm…
For her part, Sofie did acknowledge it was a little problematic how Travis wouldn’t listen to his wife:
“Travis didn’t listen to her in the moment, and thought he knew better. In my opinion makes it turn into a controlling behavior, because love should be felt as something safe also in the moment, and not as something pressing. … In their case, it seems like Travis’ intensity and initiative is what gets the last say, while Kourtney’s needs get in the backseat.”
The relationship expert also tried to put Kourtney’s recent birth experience into context, too:
“After giving birth, the body is extra sensitive, both physically and mentally. Hormones, lack of sleep and being in the phase of physical recovery makes small things feel very overwhelming. If a partner in that phase isn’t responsive and listens to their partner, it very easily comes off as them ignoring their partner’s needs in a very bad way. But for that to happen, Travis should have said, ‘We can walk the last bit and run more if you feel like it,’ instead of pushing on.”
We get that!
In the end, Roos said it’s no wonder viewers were outraged when they watched it unfold on the Hulu show:
“The strong reaction comes from so many people seeing themselves in this situation, where a partner does something that on the surface looks to be an act of love, but that instead comes off as controlling. People also react extra strongly to the fact that Kourtney just had a pregnancy, which makes people ask how well men actually listen to women’s needs and bodily integrity as well as if the modern balance in relationships really is as equal as we want to think it is.”
So, we’ll put it to you, Perezcious readers: what do U make of the moment? Did Travis go too far? Was his behavior really “controlling,” as some have said?
Sound OFF with your thoughts in the comments (below)!
[Image via Kourtney Kardashian/Instagram]
The post Travis Barker Accused Of Being ‘Controlling’ After ‘Forcing’ Kourtney Kardashian To Run In 5K! appeared first on Perez Hilton.